S.J. home prices highest in 5 years

Home prices in San Joaquin County reached their highest level in about five years in April.

Staff and wire reports

Home prices in San Joaquin County reached their highest level in about five years in April.

The California Association of Realtors said the median price - half more, half less - reached $195,960 last month, for a one-year increase of 19 percent.

"California's housing market maintained its momentum in April, getting the spring home-buying season off to a good start," CAR President Don Faught said.

The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home climbed 28.9 percent from a $312,500 in April 2012. That was the 14th straight month of annual price increases and the 10th consecutive month of double-digit annual gains.

"The upsurge in the median price continues to be driven by an increase in sales in the upper-price range, where low inventory is less of an issue," said Leslie Appleton-Young, CAR's vice president and chief economist.

"Over the past year, home sales in the $500,000-and-higher market segment posted a year-over-year gain of 35 percent on average, which contributed to an increase in the statewide median price of nearly 30 percent from the previous year."

Higher home prices have cut the number of distressed sales, with about three of every four sales statewide in April being an equity sale. That's down from about half being distressed sales 12 months earlier.

CAR said Wednesday that about 43 percent of San Joaquin County home sales in April were distressed sales, down from 62 percent in April 2012.

Nationwide, home sales ticked up last month to the highest level in 31/2 years, helped by a jump in the number of houses for sale.

The National Association of Realtors said that sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million, up from 4.94 million in March.

Home sales have risen 9.7 percent in the past 12 months, evidence that the housing market is still improving. But sales have been roughly flat since November.

Home sales in San Joaquin County were up 13.9 percent in April compared to March and up 1.7 percent from April 2012, the California Association of Realtors said.

Nationwide, the number of homes for sale rose 12 percent in April from March to 2.16 million. But inventory is still almost 14 percent lower than a year earlier.

Homes available for sale in San Joaquin County remained flat in April, with 667 on the market, according to figures compiled by Trendgraphix.com. That's down from the 1,076 homes for sale in April 2012 and roughly a two-month supply of for-sale homes.

The increase in inventories nationwide partly reflects the beginning of the spring selling season. The supply of homes would be exhausted in 5.2 months at the current sales pace. That's below the typical level of about six months.

More Americans are interested in purchasing homes: Buyer traffic has risen 31 percent in the past year, the Realtors' group said.